Washing machine drive



y 9 T. s. WATSON 5,656

WASHING MACHINE DRIVE Filed Dec. 12, 1928 E J in Ti 9 12 1O I J WITNESSES Patented July 1932 PAT-ENT OFFICE S. WATSON, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN WASHING MACHINE :ozarvn Application filed December 12, 1928. Serial No. 325,572.

The inventlon elates to Washing machine drives.

Washing machines, as commonly constructed for lme in laundries, are of a type 5 including a stationary horizontally-disposed cylindrical casing having mounted therein a relatively long rotatable washing drum orcylinder, Which is periodically reversed in its direction of rotation. Conditionsrequire W that the drum or cylinder be driven simultaneously at opposite ends and this has heretofore been accomplished by securing large gear wheels to the opposite ends of the drum or cylinder and meshing these gear wheels with pinions carried on a counter-shaft, which is driven through a gearing connection, usually including a second counter-shait, by an electric motor or other source of power. Re versing hasbeen accomplished either by the use of gearing mechanism, or by reversing the motor.

In practice, the washing machine drive heretofore provided has been found to be expensive in construction as well as noisy in operation, and it was difficult to efiect and maintain a proper adjustment of the gearing to equalize the transmission of power to opposite ends of the reversible washing drum.

In order to obviate these disadvantages, it is an object of the present invention to provide a washing machine drive of simple, inexpensive and efiicient construction embodying belting connections, the drive being quiet in operation and capable of simple adjustment to equalize driving torqueat opposite ends of the drum.

A more specific object is to drive the rotatable drum at each end by means of multiplegrooved sheaves which have a multiple-V- o belt driving connection with other sheaves carried on a suitably-driven counter-shaft, means being provided for independently adjusting opposite end portions of the countershaft with res ect to the axis of the washing 46 drum to equalize the transmission of power to opposite ends of the drum.

e invention further consists in the several features hereinafter set forth and more particularly defined by the annexed claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a washing machine embodymg the drive of the invention, parts being proken away and parts being shown in sec- 1on; I

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the washing machme, parts of the driving belts being broken away and parts being shown in section, and

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional elevation taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2 showing the manner so of adjusting one of the counter-shaft bear lngs.

In the drawing, the numeral 10 desig natesa stationary horizontally-extending cylindrlcalcasing which, in practice, may be of a considerable length. The casing 10 is supported at its ends on end frames 11 and at intermediate portions on suitable saddle frames 12, all as usual. A washing drum or cylinder 13 is disposed within the casing 10 w and carries the usual shafts 14 at its ends which are journalled in the end frames 11.

In the usual type of washing machine heretofore constructed, large gear wheels were carried on the shafts 1 1 for driving the drum 13. In the present instance, however, gearing connections are not employed and use is made of a type of drive described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,662,511, issued March 13, 1928. The driving connection therein described consists essentially of a pair of multiple-grooved sheaves rotatable on parallel axes and connected by a plurality of independent elastic V-belts, whlch automatically establish equal driving ratios for 5 all the belts during the rotation of the sheaves. The advantages of this type of driving connectionare eflectiveness in. driving between short centers, elficient transmission of power using relatively narrow 9o sheaves, and quiet operation.

' In carrying out the invention, a large diameter multiple-grooved sheave 15 is se cured to each drum. shaft 14, and these sheaves are connected by a number of elastic e5 lI-belts 16 with a pair of much smaller multiple-grooved sheaves 17 secured to opposite end portions of a counter-shaft 18 disposed longitudinally above the casmg 10. The counter-shaft is journalled near its ends ali in a pair of self-aligning bearings 19 of the ball-and-socket type, each bearing including a bearing block 20 adjustably secured to the upper end portions of the end frames 11. Each end frame 11 has its upper portions provided with a guide groove 21 in which slidably fits a rib 22 on the bearing block 20. Slots 23 are formed in the end frame to receive therethrough bolts 24, by means a of which the bearing can be fixed in position. Each bearing is capable of independent adjustment toward or away from the axis of the Washing drum, and this is accomplished by means of a jack bolt 25 having a head at its lower end engageable with a lug 26 on the end frame, and having a nut 25 threaded thereon in engagement with the bearing block, the upper end of the jack bolt entering the bearing block for guidance therein. The

adjustment of the nut 25 on the jack bolt .25 serves to accurately position thebearing when the bolts 24; are loosened, and these .latter bolts are then tightened to maintain the adjustment of the bearing. In this manner, the V-belts 16 at opposite ends of the drum may be given their proper tension to insure equal transmission of power to opposite ends of the drum. The use. of the selfing bearings 19 permits independent adjustment of the belt tension at opposite ends of the machine without causing binding of the counter-shaft, and a slight lack of parallelism between the counter-shaft and the axis of the washing drum is not objectionable, if this condition should result from such adjustment. The driving connections at opposite ends of the drum are essentially identical with respect to the efiective diameters of the sheaves 15 and 17 and the number of belts connecting the sheaves.

Another multiple-grooved sheave 27 is secured to the counter-shaft near one of its bearings 19 and is connected by a plurality of elastic V-belts 28 with a much smaller multiple-grooved sheave 29 carried on the shaft of an electric motor 30, which is disposed rearwardly and downwardlyfrom the counter-shaft. The motor 30 includes leg portions slidably mounted on a pair of uprightsupporting rods 31, which are fixedly secured to a cross member 32 connecting the end frames 11 of the machine. The tension -on the V-belts 28 is properly adjusted by dropping the motor on its guide rods 31, to

which the motor is then fixedly secured by is transmitted from the counter-shaft to opposite ends of the washing drum in substanpresent instance, the shock of the repeated reversals is taken up by the elastic drivin belts 16 and 28 to thereby prevent jarring o the mechanism. In its reversing operation, the washing drum may be brought to successive momentary stops by plugging the motor, and under these conditions the elastic driving belts absorb the shocks which might otherwise injure the mechanism. A brake drum 34: mounted on the counter-shaft 18 serves as a means for locking the drum during the loading and unloading operations.

While the invention is more particularly adapted for use in cylinder washing machines, it will be obvious that it is also applicable to other types of machines Where similar 0 crating conditions are encountered.

What claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a washing machine, the combination of a frame structure including a pair of spaced end frames, a rotary washing drum extending horizontally between said end frames and having shaft members at opposite ends journalled in said end frames, sheaves carried on said shaft members, a counter-shaft arranged substantially parallel to the axis of said drum, sheaves carried on said counter-shaft in alignment with the sheaves on the shaft members of the drum, belts connecting the sheaves of said drum and counter-shaft, means for driving said counter-shaft, bearing blocks adj ustably mounted on said end frames, self-aligning bearings carried on said bearing blocks for supporting said counterashaft, and means for independently shifting said bearing blocks with respect to the axis of said drum for adjusting the tension of said belts and equalizing the transmission of power to the opposite ends of said drum.

2. Power transmitting apparatus comprising, in combination, a rotary driven member, supporting means for said rotary member, pulleys mounted on the opposite end portions of said rotary member, a countershaft arranged substantially parallel to the axis of said rotary member, pulleys carried on the opposite end portions of the countershaft in alignment with the pulleys on said rotary member, belts connecting said pula air of spaced self-aligning bearin for said countershaft adjacent the resp e btive pulleys on said shaft, and supporting means on which said bearin s are mdependently shiftably mounted for independently adjusting the tension of said belts to equalize the transmission of power to the opposite end portions of said rotary member.

3. Power transmitting apparatus comprising, in combination, a. rotar driven member, supporting means for sa1d rotary mem ber, pulleys mounted on said rotary member at points spaced along the axis; ofsaid rotary member, a countershaft arranged sub stantially parallel to the axis of said rotary member, spaced pulleys on the countershaft in alignment with the spaced pulleys on said rotary member, belts connecting said pulleys, means for driving said countershaft, bearing means for supporting'said countershaft at spaced points adjacent the pulleys on said I countershaft, and means for independently displacing said countershaft bearing means for adjusting the tension of said belts and equalizing the transmission of power to the axially spaced points of said rotary member.

In testlmony whereof, I aflix my signature.

- THOMAS s. WATSON. 

